As was the custom, the exterior of the mansion was fully controlled by the blue uniforms. Whether by carriage or on foot, no one could enter or exit as they pleased.
Furthermore, within the mansion, a portion of the security company and the servers were actually police officers from the Hall of Order, controlled by the Rangers. They formed a second line of defense, ensuring the target could not leave the venue.
This meant that Officer Natalie Angel must still be inside.
Previously, professionals had set tracking signals on both of them, so following the signals should have made them easy to find.
However, after searching several times, they had come up with nothing.
Only Lynch sat in a corner of the venue, his left hand gripping the shaft of his cane, holding it in a strange posture, while his right hand twirled a crystal clear wine glass, sipping red wine in silence.
Officer Natalie Angel, the companion who had been by his side earlier, had vanished into thin air. A group of professionals had searched for ten minutes, but all efforts were in vain.
Where on earth was she?
At this moment, Walker, the confident Ranger, and Kelvin, the rank seven evil cultist, could finally no longer sit still. Commands were issued continuously from the shadows. With the two of them as the center, an invisible commotion spread quietly. Those lurking among the guests and servers moved for various reasons, searching every corner of the count's mansion for traces of Officer Natalie Angel.
Coincidentally, the Watchers' defensive line had noticeably slackened. Even the security around Lynch had been largely withdrawn, departing as abruptly as they had appeared. Aside from occasionally manifesting to cause a bit of trouble for the Rangers' men, their movements could no longer be felt.
But even so, nothing but bad news returned to Walker and Kelvin.
None, none, still nothing.
"Didn't you set markers on them? How can you still not find them? A living person can't just vanish into thin air, can they? Find her!"
Their expressions could not be seen in the darkness, but the anger in Walker's chest was palpable in his voice.
Yet, the facts proved that she could.
The Rangers had indeed placed tracking signals on both of them, but the information returning now only showed Lynch. The other signal was missing most of the time, appearing only occasionally. But when they followed it, they were led to other invited guests, not the target, Officer Natalie.
Even a cunning cultist like Kelvin was momentarily at a loss. He and Walker exchanged blank stares, unable to grasp Lynch's intentions.
What exactly was he trying to do? Where had he hidden the gem?
Staring at Lynch, who was sipping wine leisurely in the distance, both men clenched their fists.
"Heh, tell me if you need help." A sinister, ethereal voice drifted from the shadows behind them. "These little things may be cunning, but they cannot escape my control. As long as I act, I can easily grasp them and retrieve the gem for you. However, as for my price... hehehe..."
The two were not surprised by this, but upon hearing the final condition, their complexions turned livid. They gritted their teeth and their lips moved as if speaking silent, friendly words. Finally, Walker took a deep breath and gritted out, "We do not need your help for the moment. We can handle it."
"Then I shall wait with patience," the figure in the shadows said hauntingly. "Seeing how hard you are working, let me give you a hint: based on my research of him, his behavior today has been wrong from the very beginning. There is absolutely something suspicious."
"Hiss, you are right. Thank you for the reminder; I have an idea," Kelvin said, frowning. "He intends to hand over the gem publicly. That behavior is understandable—not just for fame, but by delivering it in front of so many witnesses, he can avoid a lot of trouble later and end his involvement with the incident. But he should not be so high profile. Normally, he should have concealed that the gem was in his possession until that princess appeared to hand it over directly. Yet not only did he not hide it, he was so high profile, as if he were afraid we wouldn't know the gem was on him. Such behavior is indeed abnormal."
"Mr. Kelvin," Walker scratched his head in distress. "Just say what you think. It surely can't be more unacceptable than agreeing to his conditions."
"Hmm, on one hand, he expresses without reservation that the gem is on him, while on the other, he mobilizes the Watchers' power to prevent your people from getting close to investigate. This is actually a form of concealment—a reverse concealment. He is, in fact, concealing the fact that the gem is not on him. Now that he realizes we may have discovered his goal and knows he is no longer useful, he has shifted to a low profile, huddled in the corner, nursing his glass of wine, trying to erase his presence."
In the darkness, the elegant Kelvin suddenly slammed a fist into a relief column, laughing out of extreme anger:
"I finally understand. This cunning bastard. His sudden low profile is to yield the stage to that missing officer. The officer's disappearance is the second form of concealment. He used her disappearance to attract our attention, making us waste our time looking for her, while the gem might never have been on either of them. They are both just public bait."
"Then the gem..."
"Mr. Walker," Kelvin suddenly interrupted the inquiry, saying urgently, "How did your subordinates mark those two? Was it scent or light effect?"
"Those are too easily discovered and cannot escape the Watchers' detection. We used a mystery connection, which is more complex but has high concealment and accuracy."
"Then that is it. It means the flickering target was not a false report from inaccurate information, but a hidden third associated target that only surfaced after one of the primary targets disappeared for unknown reasons." Kelvin revealed a ferocious smile, gritting his teeth. "Did those instances point to the same target?"
Walker paused, called a subordinate over to mutter a few words, and then said with a dark expression and a stiff voice, "It is the same target."
"Who?"
"The young countess from Norin, Diana de Valente, a soul severer of the Church of Suffering."
"The same noble lady who came forward to help Lynch through his crisis at the last party?"
"The very same. Damn it, I almost leaked the documents about my connection to the Swelling Monastery through this woman. Inspector Bruno also warned me of her existence. I shouldn't have ignored her. The item must have been brought in secretly by her. Lynch attracted attention to buy time, and she..."
"Dong, dong."
The sound of bells rang out over the venue; it was the signal that the banquet had officially begun.
The doors of the mansion opened slowly. Princess Chloe, in her finery, left the mansion with the support of a maid and headed toward the garden. For a moment, all the guests stood up, applauding softly as they welcomed Her Highness the Princess.
In the crowd, a young noble lady wearing a light green gown held a folding fan as she stepped toward Princess Chloe. It appeared as though she wished to replace the supporting maid and enter with the princess to deliver the opening speech, demonstrating the intimacy between them.
The countess of the Valente family.
It was a move that did not violate etiquette, and it attracted everyone's gaze. Walker, in the darkness, also gripped the shrubbery tightly.
Damn it, it's a trap. I'm going to fail this time. What do I do?
"Do not worry," Kelvin stared intently at every move the young Lady Valente made, his face dark as he said, "With me here, the gem cannot run away. As long as she dares to expose the gem in my line of sight, I can teleport it over. Although there is only one chance, and it will inevitably expose our intentions, the success rate is extremely high."
"I'm counting on you, Mr. Kelvin."
As they were speaking, Lady Valente had already walked to Chloe's side. She whispered a few words and took a small jewelry box from the edge of her skirt, opening it in front of everyone.
"This is the moment I wanted. I want them to suffer this shame in front of everyone and be mocked by all. Hehehehe."
In the darkness, Kelvin's vicious laughter could be heard.
The moment the jewelry box opened, a red light shone from it. However, the red light was only a fleeting flash, and in the blink of an eye, the box became dim and lifeless.
"Huh?"
A low gasp came from the direction of Lady Valente. The noble lady looked at the jewelry box in her hand in surprise; it was already empty.
And in the dark bushes not far away, Kelvin, a believer of the Flicker, squinted his eyes and snapped his fingers. A moment later, light flashed in the palm of his other hand, and a crimson gem appeared in his grasp.
"Heh, I said, with me here, the gem cannot run away."
Kelvin smiled reservedly and extended the hand holding the gem toward Walker:
"Please, this cooperation of ours..."
"Completed smoothly... No, that's not right." As soon as Walker took the gem, his expression changed immediately. "There is no warmth. This gem is fake."
"What?"
"The real gem feels warm to the touch, but this is cold. This thing is a counterfeit." The drop from hope to disappointment twisted the muscles on Walker's face.
"Impossible." Kelvin also lost his elegance, growling in a rage, "How could they have a counterfeit gem on them?"
"He must have prepared it in advance. Damn it, where did he find such a convincing counterfeit?"
While the two were in a state of impotent rage, they saw Lynch in the corner finally set down his wine glass with reluctance. He glanced toward their position, seemingly intentional or perhaps by chance, and then, holding his cane in that strange posture, walked toward Princess Chloe with a calm expression.
Finished.
Now Walker and Kelvin both knew they had been deceived. The item was actually still on Lynch; he had just hidden it using a special method. Now, he was going to deliver the task.
"Mr. Kelvin," Walker called out with bloodshot eyes, "can you do it one more time?"
"Impossible. The drain is too great; there is only one chance." Kelvin clutched his head in frustration. "I understand now. That fake gem was just to trick our trump card out. The one he is about to deliver now is the real one."
In an instant, despair and regret filled the hearts of both men, but it was too late to do anything. They could only watch as Lynch approached Princess Chloe with rapid strides.
"Pfft, do you need my help, gentlemen? I said it before: as long as I am willing, they cannot escape my control. Hehehe. Giving them a fatal blow at the moment of their greatest triumph—that is also a very interesting story, isn't it?"
"I, I... Ms. Selene, are you truly certain you can help us retrieve the gem?"
"What do you think? I have my own methods."
On a bench in the darkness, a face half covered by a round fan emerged. Her charming eyes swept across Walker's face with a playful glint:
"As long as you are willing to pay that price, hehehe."
Walker's expression twisted as if he were being stared at by a dozen burly men. He was on the verge of tears. Finally, gritting his teeth, he said, "Then I leave it to you, Ms. Selene."
A light chuckle came from behind the round fan. A slender, delicate hand emerged from the darkness and made a light grasping motion in the direction of Lynch.
Rate on N.U.
